Honeymoon Day 9: Fox Glacier and Lake Matheson

Yet another gloomy morning suggestive of a day inside. We decided that we would chance a walk around a body of water down the road from where we were staying, Lake Matheson. It wasn’t til later that we realised this was a very photographed location. Many of the pictures of Mount Cook were taken from two of the look around the lakes surrounds. We werent going to get the post card afternoon light on the snowy crest of Mt Cook as we didn’t even know which direction it was due to low cloud cover but none the less we came out okay.

The above photo shows what the walk around this virtually unsigned and barely discussed lake was like. For me, this was the essence of what I expected to see around the South Island. This was what I had come to see. Fantastic epiphytic growth, dense floor covering and tall trees. All at a very unexpected location. The collage above shows the path we walked, some epiphyic ferns and some really cool low lying plants. (1ds, 17-40, f8, 0.8-6 seconds). One point to consider is the amount of light getting through. For a proper exposure some of these shots were up to 6 seconds long, in comparison outside of the forest I was getting speeds of up to 1/125 of a second. We walked at about 10 in the morning on an over cast day. The picture below is of the closest and perhaps the more popular lookout (1ds, 17-40, f8, 1/100). This shot gives some of an idea to the potential of this location. The only ripples in the water are from the constant movement of the waterbirds. Somewhere above the peaks is Mt Cook. We never got to see exactly where.

The following photo is from near another look out approximately 50 minutes walk from the carpark. We were lucky as whilst we were walking we the sun tried to break through and lit up the these trees. (1ds,17-40, f8, 1/80)

We tried again for the glaciers and the clouds had lifted a little. Showing more of this massive expanse of ice. Rather than post some of the shots of the glacier this is one of Maegan and myself at the glacier. (1ds, 17-40, f8, 1/200).

The final picture Ill add is one taken from the back patio of our hotel room. The clouds finally lifted enough to expose some of the sharp peaks and did so just in time for the late afternoon sun to hit. I was lucky to have the telephoto ready and isolate the peaks. (30d, 100-400, f8, 1/10).

That is my last photo of what turned into a great day. Day 10 we will find us on the road to Wanaka.